BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (2/18/19) – The Arkansas State track and field teams began competition at the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships with nine top-10 program bests among the highlights at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

The A-State men are third in the team standings with five events scored on day one. Louisiana leads the team standings with 41.5 points followed by Texas State (37), Arkansas State (28), Appalachian State (26), South Alabama (24.5) and UT Arlington (21). The A-State women are in sixth place in the team standings with five events scored on day one. Texas State (47) leads and is followed by South Alabama (37), Appalachian State (21), UT Arlington (21), Georgia State (15) and Arkansas State (14).

Carter Shell won the long jump setting a personal-best with a leap of 7.55m (24-9.25), the seventh-longest in program history. Michael Carr finished second by way of a jump off in the pole vault at 5.13m (16-10) while Matthew Keown was eighth at 4.68m (15-4.25). Eron Carter garnered four points for the A-State men’s team total with a fifth-place finish in the weight throw with a mark of 17.69m (58-0.50).

Grace Flowers secured five points for the women with a fourth-place finish in the weight throw at 17.77m (58-3.75). Camryn Newton-Smith added two points for the women with a seventh-place long jump of 5.74m (18-10). Freshmen Emma Nwofor and Sydney Lane combined to earn four points from the women’s high jump. Nwofor finished sixth at 1.73m (5-8), the eighth-best jump in program history, while Lane was eighth at 1.68m (5-6).

After four events of the heptathlon, A-State is in solid position with two Red Wolves in the top three. Coleton Cliff is second with 2,913 points while Hayden Hampton is third with 2,881 points. The heptathlon wraps up Tuesday at 9:00 a.m.

Senior Caitland Smith and freshman Osereme Erewele had record-setting days in the short sprints. Smith posted a season-best of 7.39 seconds, the third-fastest time in program history, to lead the qualifiers for Tuesday’s final in the 60-meter dash. Erewele qualified third with a time of 7.54 seconds, the fourth-fastest time in program history. In the 200-meter dash, Smith posted the second-fastest time in program history of 23.83 seconds to lead the qualifiers headed into the final. Erewele was fourth among those qualifiers at 24.69 seconds, the seventh-fastest time in program history.

Freshman Jermie Walker had the second-fastest qualifying times in both the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes. Walker was second among those qualifying for the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.68 seconds to rank as the seventh-fastest in program history. In the 400-meter dash, Walker posted a time of 48.29 seconds, just shy of the top-10 in program history.

Junior Emma Nwofor had the top qualifying time in the 60-meter hurdles with the second-fastest time in program history at 8.44 seconds. Three Red Wolves advanced in the 60-meter hurdles on the men’s side. Ke’Von Holder was fifth among the qualifiers at 8.24 seconds while Amari James (8.30) and Hayden Hampton (8.36) qualified for the final Tuesday in sixth and seventh, respectively.

The A-State men earned three spots in the 800-meter final Tuesday at 2:45 p.m. Heinrich Herbst won the first heat with a time of 1:54.00 to automatically qualify while Seth Waters (1:53.79) and Jacob Oury (1:54.48) qualified on time. Anaelle Charles used a late push to win heat three and enter tomorrow’s final with the second-fastest time. Charles won the third heat with a time of 2:12.73, the third-fastest time in program history, using the outside lanes to make her late surge. She will run in the final on Tuesday at 2:40 p.m.

A complete listing of results from competition is below with the schedule for each event on Tuesday included. The meet gets underway Tuesday with the completion of the heptathlon at 9:00 a.m. For the latest on the A-State track and field, log onto the team’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/AStateTrackAndField or follow the team on Twitter or Instagram at @AStateTrack.